I just got done watching the Mike Tomlin interview and of course, the subject that everyone was chomping at the bit for was the left tackle position and, more specifically, Jonathan Scott. Tomlin made it perfectly clear, Jonathan Scott will be our starting left tackle if he is healthy. He did mention that they may bring someone in, depending on the overall health situation on the offensive line, however, Scott will get the nod if he's ready to go.

Now, here comes the point of this thread: is this stance that Tomlin takes a show of unwavering faith in his team, or a blatant show of stubbornness. At this juncture, I'm not completely sure. I can see from a coaching point of view, you don't want to publicly throw your guys under the bus, no matter how bad they are. This builds a level of trust between the coach and the player who may be under-performing, and the rest of the locker room. If the players don't trust you, they don't respect you and definitely won't play their hearts out for you.

On the other hand, it could be seen as being stubborn. Its very obvious to most of us Steelers fans that J. Scott is horrible. Week in and week out, he is beat like he stole something, and its been for over the length of an entire season. Its not changing, he's really not getting any better. I'm not taking a shot at the guy, but it is what it is, he's not an NFL starter. Not only that, but he's the guy who's supposed to be protecting our 100M dollar quarterback's blind side. Why not at least acknowledge that its an area that could use some improvement? Why not look at a potential upgrade at the position? If you talk about change it might inspire Scott to play harder.

In my opinion, I really don't think its Tomlin's fault. It really comes down to the front office and the guys they put on the field for Tomlin to coach and mold into a team. At this point in the season, Tomlin is going about the business of trying to mold a championship caliber team with the stuff that he has been handed. The fact that he has been handed mud at the tackle positions is not his fault.

So, in conclusion, while writing this thread, I've come to the conclusion that Tomlin is being a good head coach. He's thinking of what is best for the team and the locker room. What do you guys think?

SteelJones

09-27-2011 06:41 PM

Re: Tomlin: Unwavering or Stubborn?

dcsteel,

I think that your assessment is right on. Tomlin is a good head coach and he does an excellent job at keeping these guys motivated. Like you said, he can't throw a guy under the bus and risk losing his team. Scott is not the answer and I expect the Steelers to start giving this guy help in all obvious passing situations from here on out until they can rectify this situation through the draft next year.

Go Steelers!

FanSince72

09-27-2011 07:39 PM

Re: Tomlin: Unwavering or Stubborn?

Or it could be that Tomlin -- the guy who works with Scott every day and knows him better than anyone here possibly could -- sees something in him and knows that with enough reps and practice, he will become a solid left tackle.

But then Tomlin's just the coach of the Steelers, and not a poster on a message board, so what could he know?

steelfury02

09-27-2011 07:58 PM

Re: Tomlin: Unwavering or Stubborn?

I'll officially give Scott the benefit of the doubt and some breathing room to rectify the situation - BUT - it better start happening this Sunday @ Houston. I applaud Tomlin for not throwing him under the bus - it is a classy move. I'm sure he'll have a talk with Kugler and the young man - he was able to do enough to help us get to the show last season so ya know he has that thing going for him I guess . . .

Here's to the young man improving, because as it seems - there won't be any changes so let's just roll with it baby:drink:

DanRooney

09-27-2011 08:08 PM

Re: Tomlin: Unwavering or Stubborn?

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanSince72
(Post 948073)

Or it could be that Tomlin -- the guy who works with Scott every day and knows him better than anyone here possibly could -- sees something in him and knows that with enough reps and practice, he will become a solid left tackle.

But then Tomlin's just the coach of the Steelers, and not a poster on a message board, so what could he know?

Right...what do we know? We just saw one of the worst performances by a left tackle in the modern era of the NFL. But since Coach Tomlin said he's the starter we must all be wrong. Secretly Tomlin knows that J. Scott is better than Jake Long and Joe Thomas.

Come on dude. He's not going to throw any player under the bus like that. Not because media wants to hear it. What did you expect him to say? "Jonathan Scott is the worst starting left tackle ever and we're pursuing Flozell as we speak?" We know that Tomlin is absolutely infuriated by his performance and he probably heard an earful right after the game. I'm sure he sent the same sentiments toward Kugler.

Or Tomlin probably realizes we don't have any other options because of the lack of cap space and knows that we're just going to have to go with the cards dealt.

FanSince72

09-27-2011 08:33 PM

Re: Tomlin: Unwavering or Stubborn?

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanRooney
(Post 948083)

Right...what do we know? We just saw one of the worst performances by a left tackle in the modern era of the NFL. But since Coach Tomlin said he's the starter we must all be wrong. Secretly Tomlin knows that J. Scott is better than Jake Long and Joe Thomas.

Come on dude. He's not going to throw any player under the bus like that. Not because media wants to hear it. What did you expect him to say? "Jonathan Scott is the worst starting left tackle ever and we're pursuing Flozell as we speak?" We know that Tomlin is absolutely infuriated by his performance and he probably heard an earful right after the game. I'm sure he sent the same sentiments toward Kugler.

Or Tomlin probably realizes we don't have any other options because of the lack of cap space and knows that we're just going to have to go with the cards dealt.

Could be.

I'm not saying that you're 100% wrong, but by the same token the league is filled with players who looked like crap when they first started and eventually became pretty good.

Look at Eli Manning.
During his first season were there more than six people who thought he'd be anywhere near decent (never mind "good") as a QB?

Who knows?
You may be right and Scott may be a complete bust.
But we've only played three games and two of them have been against some pretty tough Defenses, so I'm just giving him the benefit of the doubt and let's see where it goes from here.

Atlanta Dan

09-27-2011 08:37 PM

Re: Tomlin: Unwavering or Stubborn?

Ed.B. of the P-G covers the team for a living and usually has a pretty good read on the pulse of the team

Ed's thoughts on the OL and sitting players

You can't just "fix" it, especially at this point. You no longer can build a perfect team and keep it together for a decade. The Steelers have done a good job of keeping a good team together for a long time. In order to do that, you have to be smart, work the salary cap and get lucky. You fix one area in this era, another drops off. That's the system....

Benching veterans carries with it many landmines, especially if you do it too soon or for reasons that are not real clear. I mentioned the benching of Kordell Stewart above. Another was the benching of Ike Taylor in 2006 when Bill Cowher seemed to be making him a scapegoat for all that went wrong in the coach's final season. I'm not saying you don't do it, but you have to do it the right way and at the right time or you could lose your team. On the other hand, if you don't give your team the best chance to win by playing the best players, you can lose it also.

Tomlin has been to the playoffs 3 out of 4 years, made two Super Bowls, and has a Lombardi - he appears to have a clue as to how to win in the NFL

FanSince72

09-27-2011 08:43 PM

Re: Tomlin: Unwavering or Stubborn?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atlanta Dan
(Post 948097)

Ed.B. of the P-G covers the team for a living and usually has a pretty good read on the pulse of the team

Ed's thoughts on the OL and sitting players

You can't just "fix" it, especially at this point. You no longer can build a perfect team and keep it together for a decade. The Steelers have done a good job of keeping a good team together for a long time. In order to do that, you have to be smart, work the salary cap and get lucky. You fix one area in this era, another drops off. That's the system....

Benching veterans carries with it many landmines, especially if you do it too soon or for reasons that are not real clear. I mentioned the benching of Kordell Stewart above. Another was the benching of Ike Taylor in 2006 when Bill Cowher seemed to be making him a scapegoat for all that went wrong in the coach's final season. I'm not saying you don't do it, but you have to do it the right way and at the right time or you could lose your team. On the other hand, if you don't give your team the best chance to win by playing the best players, you can lose it also.

Tomlin has been to the playoffs 3 out of 4 years, made two Super Bowls, and has a Lombardi - he appears to have a clue as to how to win in the NFL

Exactly!

Now can we all just take a breath and relax?

tony hipchest

09-27-2011 09:08 PM

Re: Tomlin: Unwavering or Stubborn?

bouchette is spot on. its a zero-sum game. sure we have the oldest defense (which is top 5 on a yearly basis) but our offense is young. our oldest offensive players are ward :old: and then ben (who isnt even 30).

to give to one side is to take from the other.

sure we have neglected the o-line, but its hard to argue with the firepower our 1st round skill position players have produced (ben, miller, holmes, mendenhall). i still dont see how anyone can say timmons, woodley, hood, heyward, and pouncey are bad picks.

tomlin has already cut the 2X franchise tag o-lineman, and told the special teams captain his services were no longer needed. he also let flozell walk, and cut our clutch kicker last season.

what type of message does it send if he knee jerks after the 1st game of the season and decides to bench farrior, hines, and smith? hell some people wanna bench foote, all experienced cb's, and the starting running back as well.

if people would stop and smell the roses, they might notice the team slowly start to metamorphisize and see that some of the changes they are clamouring for are already slowly taking place.

Classy move by Tomlin, I like how he pubicly handled that, but we cant start Scott at LT all season and win. He is that bad, I dont know how anybody can give him a break after these last 3 games. I have never seen any OL get beat around and manhandled that bad, ever. We need Flozell. We need to at least put Gilbert at LT and Scott at RT so at least Ben can see the guy who is about to hit him and hang on to the ball.